Eryr
by Andor Swiftblade
Summary: During his encounter with the Dementors in the Forbidden Forest, something ancient is unleashed within Harry. Watch out, Abstergo, because a new Assassin has risen. Templars, your days are numbered.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling and Assassin's Creed belongs to Ubisoft. Okay, first and last time I'm writing this disclaimer.**

* * *

**Eryr**

**Prologue**

**Forbidden Forest**

**June 6, 1994**

'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' Harry yelled, trying to block out the screaming from his ears. 'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'

A thin wisp of silver escaped his wand and hovered in front of him like mist. At the same moment, Harry felt Hermione collapse next to him. He was alone... completely alone...

'Expecto - Expecto - patronum -'

By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he saw a Dementor half, very close to him. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the hood. It made a gesture as if to sweep the Patronus aside. He could feel them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. Then it raised both its rotting hands - and lowered its hood.

Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, grey, scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth... gaping, shapeless hole, sucking in air with the sound of a death-rattle.

A paralysing terror filled Harry so that he couldn't move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died.

White fog was blinding him. He had to fight... _expecto patronum_... he couldn t see... and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming... _expecto patronum_... he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm... they were not going to take him...

But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly wrapped themselves around Harry s neck. They were forcing his face upwards... he could feel its breath... it was going to get rid of him first... he could feel its putrid breath... his mother was screaming in his ears... she was going to be the last thing he ever heard -

And then, the screaming slowly lessened in intensity and Harry started hearing whispers...

_Men must be free to do what they believe. It is not our right to punish one for thinking what they do, no matter how much we disagree!_

_Only a mind free of impediments is capable of grasping the chaotic beauty of the world. This is our greatest asset._

_We are one. As we share the glory of our victories, so too should we share the pain of our defeats. In this way we grow closer. We grow stronger._

_Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent._

_Hide in plain sight._

_Never compromise the Brotherhood._

_When I was very young, I was foolish enough to believe our Creed would bring an end to all these conflicts. If only I had possessed the humility to say to myself, I have seen enough for one life. I have done my part. Then again, there is no greater glory than fighting to find the truth._

_Be at peace now..._

_All that is good in me, began with you, Father._

He saw images appear before his eyes, some glowing blue, others red, white, golden and an infinite sea of dull, muted greys. Harry shook his head, trying to somehow stop the whispers in his ears and shake off the ghostly images before his eyes, but it did not have any effect. The hallucinations continued...

_Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine._

_Nulla reale, tutto lecito._

_Nothing is true... Everything is permitted._

_To say that nothing is true, is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted, is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic._

_Requiescat in pace._

_When I was a young man, I had liberty, but I did not see it. I had time, but I did not know it. And I had love, but I did not feel it. Many decades would pass before I understood the meaning of all three. Now, in the twilight of my life, misunderstanding has passed into contentment. Love, liberty, and time, once so disposable, are the fuels that drive me forward._

Harry could make out the image of a man in a in a hooded white tunic with a red sash and wearing what appeared to be some sort of medieval armour. He saw another man in red hooded robes with a heavy set of armour lined with fur. Both the men looked like they were about to go to war with the weapons they were carrying.

He could see both men moving very swiftly and performing various acrobatic feats, running through streets and over tall houses, climbing on tall towers and jumping off them.

And then, through the fog, whispers and the ghostly images that were drowning him, Harry thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter... he felt himself fall forwards onto the grass as the wispy illusions vanished, the whispers also receding to the back of his mind.

Face down, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Harry opened his eyes cautiously. He was somewhat shaken by what he had seen. Now there was a blinding light which was illuminating the grass around him... The screaming and whispers had subsided, the cold was ebbing away...

Something was driving the Dementors back... it was circling around him and Sirius and Hermione... the rattling, sucking sounds of the Dementors were fading. They were leaving... the air was not as cold as it had been...

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a few inches and saw a something resembling a bird amidst the light, gliding across the lake. Eyes blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what it was... it resembled Fawkes the phoenix, but it was blinding silvery-white instead of the golden-red plumage of the phoenix. Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched as it soared to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back... raising his arm so that the avian being of light could land on it... someone who looked strangely familiar... but it couldn't be...

Harry didn't understand. He couldn't think any more. He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head hit the ground as he collapsed. The last thing he heard before he completely lost consciousness was the piercing screech of an eagle reverberating through his head.

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So, how is it? Do you find the beginning interesting enough? If you have any ideas or suggestions, leave them in a review.


	2. Chapter 1

**Eryr**

**Chapter 1**

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**Hospital Wing**

**Hogwarts**

**June 6, 1994**

_'Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. The wisdom of our Creed is revealed through these words.'_

_'Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember... Nothing is true. Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember... Everything is permitted.'_

_'We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Assassins.'_

The whispers had once again started echoing in his mind as soon as he had regained consciousness. While the murmuring was not as loud as it had been earlier, it still lingered, and because of it, Harry was not able to adequately concentrate on the conversation between Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and Severus Snape, Hogwarts' Potions Professor. He only heard snippets of the discussion, but from what little he could eavesdrop, he understood that sometime after the Dementors had been somehow driven away, Snape had awakened, and he was now shamelessly lying to the Minister about Sirius bewitching Harry, Ron and Hermione into believing the Azkaban fugitive's innocence. And the bumbling fool that he was, Fudge was eating up each one of those lies and was commending Snape for his bravery in apprehending a dangerous criminal and Dark wizard. And it appeared that Snape was now trying to get him punished for breaking school rules.

Harry lay listening with his eyes tight shut. The whispers receded once again to the back of his mind, but he did not want to open his eyes for the off-chance that the ghostly images would reappear as soon as his eyes reopened. He felt very groggy. The words he was hearing seemed to be travelling very slowly from his ears to his brain. His limbs felt like lead... he simply wanted to lie here, on this comfortable bed, for ever...

'What amazes me most is the behaviour of the Dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?'

'No, Minister. By the time I had come around, they were heading back to their posi...'

Harry ignored the rest of Snape's prattle as he tried to regain his senses. He remembered the fervent whispers he had heard, many voices, all murmuring the same words over and over "_Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine_. Nothing is true... Everything is permitted..."

Harry wondered what that truly meant. He could still remember the two men he saw in his hallucination - for there was no other way to describe the phantasmal images which had appeared before him, instead of his mother's last moments.

The two men, one dressed in white and the other one in red, both attired in different styles of medieval armour, and both moving with such fluid movements, running, dodging, climbing and leaping from tall towers. And suddenly, an appellation was whispered to him in his mind _'Assassins...'_

_The Assassin Order, also known as the Assassin Brotherhood; Liberalis Circulum during Roman times or Hashshashin during the High Middle Ages, is an organized order of Assassins and sworn enemies of the Order of the Knights Templar, more commonly known as the Templar Order, against whom they have fought a continuous, recondite war, throughout the entirety of recorded human history._

_Whereas the Templars seek the power to save humanity from itself by controlling free will, the Assassin Order fight to ensure the survival of free will, as it allows for the progression of new ideas and the growth of individuality._

For a moment, Harry speculated if he was losing his mind, because he remembered Ron telling him last year that even in the Wizarding World, hearing whispers was not a good thing.

He opened his eyes.

Everything was slightly out of focus. Somebody had removed his glasses. He was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the end of the ward, he could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to him, bending over a bed. Harry squinted slightly and moved his head over on the pillow. In the bed to his right lay Hermione, her eyes wide open, too. When she noticed Harry was awake, she pressed a finger to her lips and pointed towards the hospital wing door. It was ajar and the voices of Fudge and Snape were coming in from the corridor outside.

Madam Pomfrey must have noticed that he was awake, for she walked over briskly holding the largest block of chocolate he had ever seen in his life. It was the size of a small boulder.

'Ah, you're awake!' she said briskly, and placing the chocolate on Harry's bedside table, began breaking it into smaller pieces.

'How's Ron?' asked Hermione, as she glanced at the motionless redhead.

'He'll live,' replied Madam Pomfrey grimly. 'As for you, you'll be staying here until - Potter, what do you think you are doing?'

Harry was just sitting up in his bed. He glanced at Madam Pomfrey when he heard her indignant inquiry, but did not reply. Instead, he took a few deep breaths and then reached for his glasses, which had been placed on the bedside table. Putting his glasses back on, he reached for his wand and picked it up.

He got to his feet and regarded Hermione for a few seconds then turned to the matron.

'I need to see the Headmaster,' he said, his voice devoid of any trace of emotion.

'Potter,' said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, 'it's all right. They got Black. He's locked away in upstairs. The Dementors will be performing the Kiss any moment now -'

Harry could anticipate what Madam Pomfrey was about to say, so he quickly covered Hermione's mouth with his hand before she could express her shock at the matron's statement.

'Hermione, I'm just as shocked and angry at this as you are, probably more, but shouting and screaming is not going to solve our dilemma,' said Harry while Hermione looked at him questioningly at his sudden calm demeanor. 'Let's first get out of here and speak to the Headmaster. He might be willing to listen to our version of tonight's events.'

Hermione nodded and Harry removed his hand. Madam Pomfrey looked at the two teenagers and was about to say something when the slightly ajar door to the hospital wing opened completely and the Minister for Magic and Snape entered the infirmary with the Headmaster following them a few moments later.

Fudge noticed the other trio standing by the beds and tutted.

'Harry, Harry, what's this?' said Fudge, looking abraded. 'You should be in bed, my boy! Has he had any chocolate yet?' he asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously.

Madam Pomfrey was about to reply, but Harry answered the query before the Healer could. 'Yes, Minister. I'm sure you're aware of how strict Madam Pomfrey is about the health of her patients. She wouldn't have even allowed me out of my bed if she hadn't found me to be capable of it.' He looked at Madam Pomfrey with a small smile, and Madam Pomfrey just smiled somewhat nervously in response.

That seemed to be enough for the Minister, because he smiled jovially. But before the Minister could say anything, the Headmaster interrupted.

'My apologies, everyone, but I must speak with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger about a pressing matter,' said Dumbledore calmly, as he politely told them to get out of the hospital wing. But it seemed that no one seemed to get the hint, so he added with a small smile, 'In private, if you please.'

'But Headmaster!' spluttered Madam Pomfrey. 'They need to rest now. They just had a very...'

'I'm aware of tonight's unfortunate events, Poppy, but this cannot wait,' said Dumbledore. 'I must insist.'

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat.

'The Dementors should have gathered by now,' he said. 'I'll go and give them their instructions. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs when its time.'

He crossed to the door and held it open for Snape, but Snape hadn't moved.

'You don't believe a word of Black's story, do you, Headmaster?' Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.

'I wish to speak with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, Severus,' was Dumbledore's only reply.

Snape took a step towards Dumbledore.

'Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,' he hissed. 'You haven't forgotten that, have you, Headmaster?'

'My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus,' replied Dumbledore quietly.

Snape turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding. It closed behind them and Dumbledore turned to Harry and Hermione. The Headmaster held up his hand as he noticed that Hermione looked ready to burst.

'Before you interrupt me, Miss Granger, to no doubt advocate Mr. Black's innocence, I urge you to listen to me, and I beg you will not interrupt me because there is very little time,' he said quietly. 'There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except for your word - and the word of two thirteen-year-old students will not convince anybody, especially the Ministry. A street full of eye-witnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper.'

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at Dumbledore's last statement, but none of the other two occupants of the room noticed this slight change of expression.

'Professor Lupin can tell you -' Hermione said, unable to stop herself.

'Professor Lupin is currently deep in the Forbidden Forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves are so distrusted by most of the wizards that his support will count for very little - and the fact the he and Sirius are old friends, makes his statement biased.'

'And you have to understand that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours,' said Dumbledore with a serious tone.

'He hates Sirius,' Hermione said desperately. 'All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him.'

'Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the fat lady - entering Gryffindor Tower armed with a knife - without Pettigrew ,alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius' sentence.'

'But you believe him, don't you?'

'Yes, I do,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or overrule the Minister...'

Harry was quiet during the entire conversation, but Dumbledore did not seem to notice anything unusual about it. Hermione glanced at Harry from time to time during the entire conversation, concerned about her best friend's well-being, but see too did not mention his unusual behaviour.

'What we need,' said Dumbledore, his gaze fixed on Hermione, 'is more time.'

'But -' Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round. 'OH!'

'Now, pay attention,' said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly, and very clearly. 'Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteen windows from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you'll be able to save more than one lives tonight. But remember this, both of you. You must not be seen!'

With that, Dumbledore turned on his heel and looked back as he reach the door.

'I'm going to lock you in. It is -' he consulted his watch, 'five minutes to midnight. Good luck.'

Harry watched as the doors to the infirmary were closed and he could feel magic of the enchantments Dumbledore was casting on the doors to lock them from the outside. He turned to Hermione and saw her fumbling with the neck of her robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain.

'Harry, come here,' she said urgently. 'Quick!'

Harry did not move but simply looked at her, emerald eyes distant than they had ever been. When Hermione repeated her request with more urgency, he just shook his head.

'Hermione, first of all, I need you to calm down and explain to me what you are holding, and what you are going to do with it,' said Harry as his eyes locked with Hermione's brown orbs.

Hermione held the hourglass in her palm as she looked at Harry. 'It's called a Time-Turner,' Hermione began somewhat nervously, 'and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letter to the Ministry so she could acquire one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never use it for anything except my studies. I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But...'

'Harry, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do! Why does he want us to go back? How's that going to help Sirius?'

Harry stared at her shadowy face in the dark infirmary. He appeared to be in deep thought for a few moments before he spoke.

'Dumbledore said that more than one innocent life can be saved. I'm sure that he's referring to Buckbeak and his execution, which was scheduled to take place today. Now that we have the Time-Turner, we can go back and save Buckbeak, and then fly him to the Ravenclaw Tower, where we can rescue Sirius after they take him there, before they administer the Dementor's Kiss.'

'Well, if we can manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!' exclaimed Hermione.

Harry simply nodded in agreement.

'Now we have to decide how many hours we have to turn back,' muttered Hermione.

'It's five minutes to midnight, we were walking down to Hagrid's approximately three hours ago,' said Harry.

'Hmmm, yes, that's right. Each turn sends us back an hour in time so I think three turns will suffice. ..' whispered Hermione as she put the chain of the Time-Turner around Harry's neck.

Harry looked at the tiny, sparkling hourglass dangling from the chain. Hermione turned the hourglass over three times.

The dark hospital wing seemed to dissolve around him. Harry had the sensation that he was flying, very fast, backwards. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past him; his ears were pounding. He thought that he was once again experiencing the earlier hallucinations and -

And then he felt solid ground beneath his feet, and everything came into focus once again.

He was standing next to Hermione in the deserted Entrance Hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. He looked at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck.

'We need to get out of here, Hermione,' said Harry as he looked around for a place for the both of them to temporarily hide. Spotting a broom cupboard, he pointed it out to Hermione silently, who nodded that she understood his plan. Both of them moved across the hall swiftly to the door of the broom cupboard; Harry opened it, gestured politely for Hermione to enter first and then followed her inside amongst the buckets and mops and gently closed the door behind him. As an added precaution, he took out his wand and cast a mild locking spell on the door of the cupboard.

'Hermione, please check your watch and tell me what the time is,' Harry muttered, as he lifted the chain of the Time-Turner off his neck in the darkness of the cupboard.

Hermione reached to check her wrist watch. Realising that she would be unable to check her watch in the dark, she tried to use her wand to provide some illumination, but Harry's hand was suddenly on her own.

'Stop, Hermione,' Harry whispered.

'Why?' whispered Hermione in response.

'Someone is coming down the stairs. It might be us,' muttered Harry.

'Oh...' she trailed off.

'Yes, it does sound like at least three people... Hmmm... I can make out three distinct footsteps, and we're moving very slowly, probably because we're under the Invisibility Cloak.'

Hermione did not interrupt because she could feel that Harry was listening very intently.

'Seems that we've gone down the front steps...' Harry's sudden statement startled Hermione.

Harry grabbed an upturned bucket and placing it behind Hermione, he nudged her shoulders and made her sit on it.

'What're we going to do now, Harry?' Hermione whispered anxiously. From what Harry could see of her face, she looked terrified.

'Hermione, we have to make a plan for how we are going to execute this mission before we rush out there,' said Harry, his voice calm.

Hermione seemed to gain some courage from his calmness, because her posture straightened and she looked at Harry's shadowy face with a determined look on her face.

'Yes, yes, you are right. We can't rush out there, and make up a plan in a hurry. Someone might be looking out the window, and we don't have an Invisibility Cloak to hide us now,' muttered Hermione, her mind working at an accelerated pace as she tried to come up with a strategy.

'Hermione, we'll have to split up,' said Harry after a brief pause.

'What? Why? Why do we have to split up? Wouldn't it be better if we went together?' queried Hermione, somewhat shocked and confused at her best friend's suggestion.

'While being together would be better, it increases our chances of being spotted by someone. Alone, you and I can sneak out easily and someone watching from the castle might assume that they just saw an animal. If we go together, we'll be easily spotted,' said Harry.

'Hermione, I want you to go to Hagrid's first. Hide behind a tree near the boundary of the Forbidden Forest with a view of the pumpkin patch where Hagrid tethers Buckbeak. Keep a lookout for the arrival of Dumbledore, the Minister and the executioner. Release Buckbeak only after they have seen him, otherwise the Ministry will assume that Hagrid set him free. Take Buckbeak and hide in the forest. But whatever you do, don't go near the lake where we encountered the Dementors,' said Harry, stressing his words.

'Actually,' he continued, 'You should hide with Buckbeak behind the Greenhouses until its time to rescue Sirius. That will prevent anyone from spotting you from the castle and no one can see you from the path to Hagrid's hut. I'll get you when it's time.'

'Where are you going to be? Aren't you coming after me?' inquired Hermione anxiously.

'No, Hermione. I have something else that I must do,' said Harry.

Hermione looked at him with narrowed eyes.

'Harry...' Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, but Harry stopped her questions before they even began.

'Hermione, do you know who saved us from the Dementors?' asked Harry.

'It was you. You were casting the Patronus when I fainted,' replied Hermione as she watched him with worry clearly visible in her eyes.

'No, Hermione. My attempts to cast the Patronus weren't completely successful. I only conjured mist, and that is not enough to drive away hundred Dementors,' said Harry softly.

'Oh...'

'That's what I have to do. I have to find out who saved us,' muttered Harry.

'Maybe it was Professor Snape,' added Hermione hopefully.

'No, it wasn't Snape. If it was indeed him, he wouldn't be denying that in front of Fudge,' was Harry's reply and Hermione could detect his disdain for the Potions Professor quite clearly in his voice.

'This is why I have to go, Hermione. We have to know who saved our lives out there.'

'But why can't I come with you?' questioned Hermione pleadingly.

'Because while the Dementors do affect me, I can at least defend myself by casting the Patronus, Hermione,' said Harry softly. 'And I will not let you experience the Dementors again, not while I'm still here.'

'Oh Harry...' whispered Hermione, her voice cracking.

'Hermione, we have to move out now. We are on a tight schedule, if you haven't forgotten,' said Harry.

As he reached for the door, Harry removed his wand and tapped the door, dispelling the locking charm, and pushed it open. He listened attentively for the sound of anyone approaching and when he concluded that there was no one in the vicinity, he gestured for Hermione to follow.

The Entrance Hall was deserted. As quickly and quietly as they could, they darted out of the cupboard and down the stone steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden forest gilded once more with gold. As they reached the doors of the Entrance Hall, both of them stopped.

All of a sudden, Hermione crushed Harry in one of her rib-crushing hugs. He could feel her quivering as she continued to crush the life of of him, but he did not complain. After a while, she released him and tried to hide her tears, but Harry saw them and just smiled at her.

'Don't worry, Hermione,' he said soothingly, 'Everything is going to be alright.'

She sniffled and tried to say something, but couldn't, so she just nodded silently. Harry patted her back until she stopped trembling.

'You need to go now, Hermione. Go and save Buckbeak,' whispered Harry as he gave her a quick hug and then gently nudged her towards the path to the Gamekeeper's residence.

Hermione started walking down the path, turning back occasionally to glance at Harry who simply nodded every time, silently encouraging her.

Once she disappeared into the darkness, Harry continued to gaze into the direction in which Hermione for a few seconds before he turned around and entered the ancient castle, as the sun set behind him.

* * *

**Astronomy Tower**

**Hogwarts**

**June 6, 1994**

As Harry walked up the stairs leading to the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower of Hogwarts castle, he contemplated on what had recently happened.

He realized that he had been lucky that Hermione had believed his reason for separating. It was a really pathetic reason, but it seemed that the day had really stressed out Hermione because she hadn't argued with his rationale.

He did not wish to send Hermione alone to save Buckbeak, but he had no other options available. The sudden episode he had experienced during the Dementor attack was still on his mind. He did not know what triggered the episode and he could not risk it if such an incident happened while they were trying to rescue Buckbeak. It would only result in both of them getting caught and Buckbeak losing his life. So he had decided that it would be better if Hermione went alone while he gathered his thoughts and faced the Dementors, alone this time. At least this way, Buckbeak would be rescued and their mission would not be compromised.

The entrance to the tower was barred by a solid, magically locked, wooden door. Harry took out his wand from his jacket and tapped the locking mechanism of the door, whispering, 'Alohomora!'

There was a click and the door was unlocked. Harry pushed it opened and the door opened noiselessly.

"Hmmm, it seems like Filch is performing his caretaking duties seriously for once," thought Harry to himself, as the door opened without protest.

The Astronomy Tower was not really much of a tower as it was an open terrace. It was connected to the castle by the door, but the rest of it was open to the heavens. Because of this and the elevation, this was selected by the Founders as the section of the castle where students would study the cosmos.

Harry strolled to the edge of the tower. From there, he could see the Great Lake, and directly underneath the Astronomy Tower, he could see the wide opening in the cliff from where the first-years entered the tunnel below the castle to reach the underground harbour. He looked up from the lake, whose surface looked smooth as glass, and turned his emerald eyes towards the Forbidden Forest. At the boundary, he could make out Hagrid's wooden hut. In the dark, the light coming from the windows of the hut indicated that Hagrid was at home. Harry mentally hoped that Hermione was undetected and safe.

As his gaze swept over the treeline, he could make out multiple specks floating over the forest. These were possibly the Dementors guarding the school. As thoughts about Dementors entered his mind, Harry was reminded about his mother and her last moments.

His mother... he had never known what she or his father looked like until he got the leather photo album from Hagrid at the end of his first year. His relatives, the Dursleys, every time he inquired about his parents, lied to him and told him that they had died in a car crash and that his father was an unemployed drunk. Every time he tried to remember them, tried to drag up a memory of them from the recesses of his mind, all he could remember was a flash of green light. His first encounter with the Dementor during the ride on the Hogwarts Express was the first time he had heard his mother's voice, even though she had been screaming. When the Dementors had invaded the Quidditch pitch and interrupted the game, that had been the first time he had heard his mother speak, and she had been pleading, crying for mercy, begging the monster known as Lord Voldemort to spare the life of her beloved child, him. His next subsequent encounters with the Boggart-Dementor in Lupin's office while trying to master the Patronus Charm had unlocked even more memories, this time of his father. He had heard from a lot of people during his stay at Hogwarts, that his father had been a kind and loyal man, Gryffindor to the end. The last memory of the man had proved to him that his father was all that and much more. His father had sacrificed himself to save him and his mother.

He had learned a lot more about his parents in this brief memories the Dementors had unchained than he had ever learned from his relatives. And that was all he needed to know. No matter what anyone said, he knew that his parents had loved him, loved him so much that they sacrificed their very lives to save him.

Harry could not understand why his vision was blurry all of a sudden, so he tried to rub his eyes to clear his vision. He could feel that his magic was getting a little volatile due to his current turbulent emotional state. All of a sudden, his magic started to pulsate. It was erratic, pulsing slowly one second and rapidly the other, and Harry got quite apprehensive at his magic's strange reaction. But very slowly, the pulse of magic started getting rhythmic. He could feel his heart beating, blood pounding in his ears. The rhythm of his magic's pulse slowly started matching the beating of his heart. His magic and his heart started beating in synchrony. And as suddenly as it had begun, it ended. His magic settled down and when Harry felt that it was finally over, he let out the breath he was holding, and sighed.

As he tried to make sense of what happened, and wondered if this was the beginning of another episode, a sudden pain blossomed in his eyes. Harry fell to his knees as the pain became unbearable, feeling as if someone had poked red-hot iron rods into his orbs. The pain slowly spread from his eyes to his brain. He felt as if he was about to die. His brain felt as if it was about to melt and pour out of his ears. He could not even think because of the pain.

Just as he was about to pass out from the excruciating pain, it stopped. And he lost consciousness once again.

* * *

**Astronomy Tower**

**Hogwarts**

**June 6, 1994**

When he was conscious once more, Harry opened his eyes. He was a little woozy from the pain and felt very weak. He tried to get back to his feet, but could not manage. He collapsed and just lay there.

As he looked at the open skies and the innumerable twinkling stars, he started seeing the same ghostly images he had seen earlier. Blue, red, white, yellow, grey... men and women, wearing medieval clothes, appeared moving before his eyes... talking, walking, dancing, laughing, weeping, screaming, running, fighting... so much fighting...

A girl appeared before his eyes, giggling and smiling widely at him. A wreath of wild flowers rested on her head like a crown. She reached out towards him, small arms extended, as if asking him to pick her up.

Harry tried to move his arms to reach out to the toddler, and he had to stop from yelling in surprise when he saw his fingers covered in a red, viscous fluid. He knew instinctively that it was blood. He turned to look at the girl, but she had vanished.

He blinked in shock and his shock was further amplified when the blood coating his fingers vanished and his arm was enveloped by a stylish bracer. As he moved his arm to have a proper look at the object decorating his forearm, he saw some sort of rotating wheel on a strip of metal. He did not know how, but he knew that he had to flick his wrist or clench his wrist. He did so and a long, thin, sharp blade emerged. The blade was of steel and had decorative carvings running along the cannelure of the blade. Another flick of his wrist and the blade retracted.

Harry blinked his eyes a few times and the bracer and the weapon slowly faded from his forearm. He looked around him. The images slowly became more vivid. He could make out the faces of the people before him. He could see the patterns of their clothes. He looked around and he could see the modest houses, solid brick walls, tall towers, beautiful gardens, majestic cathedrals, grandiose palaces and imposing fortresses. He could hear conversations, loud and loutish, soft and whispered, spoken in languages he had never heard until today, yet now he understood every word spoken in the strange tongues as easily as he understood English.

Knowledge slowly started trickling into his mind. Knowledge of the past... knowledge of how his ancestors had lived, how they had fought, how they had died... knowledge of things he had never considered important, until this moment... knowledge of secrets many would kill for... knowledge of ancient battles... knowledge of the struggle for power... knowledge of civilizations older and more advanced than man... knowledge of the artifacts of immense power... knowledge of Templars... knowledge of … Assassins...

Harry slowly attempted to comprehend the vast knowledge that was liberated in his mind. He gently sorted through the memories and knowledge, and started arranging it in sequence. After a while, the clutter that his mind had become cleared, and Harry slowly opened his eyes.

There was still some pain lingering from earlier, but Harry realized that he felt better now than he had ever felt. He felt as if a fog was lifted from his mind. He could think much more clearly, and as he stood and gazed out at the Forbidden Forest, he realized that he could see much more clearly as well... without his glasses.

Harry wondered if whatever had happened has affected his eyes as well. He recalled the pain in his eyes. He knew that some of his ancestors had a special ocular ability which was a sixth sense, and they employed it often to instinctively sense "auras" of people and objects around them. It helped them in differentiating friend from foe. It also allowed them to detect heartbeat of an individual in a group, and foresee the path a person might take. It was also used to follow the cold trail or locate a disguised person.

It seemed that he had unlocked his ancestors' rare ability of Eagle Vision, which had improved his normal eyesight as well.

Harry had seen the lives of his ancestors from their own perspective. They had fought for the free will of all sentient beings. A war that had been fought for millennia, and might still be continuing. He became cognizant of the fact that if the Templars were still out there, and the possibility of them being out there was very high, then he would have to seek them out and put a stop to their plans for subjugation of all humans. He would have to conclude the mission his ancestors had started.

He, Harry Potter, would have to take up the mantle of his ancestors and become an Assassin.

* * *

Well, here's the new chapter. Some of the content has been taken from HP&tPoA. I hope that you all enjoy it.

Thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter.

Questions in reviews will be answered by PM, so don't disable it. :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Eryr**

**Chapter 2**

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**Astronomy Tower**

**Hogwarts**

**June 6, 1994**

_'Harry,' she whispered as she carefully placed her baby in his crib, wishing she could be there for him longer, 'Be safe... Be strong...'_

Perched on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower, Harry sighed as he recalled his mother's final words to him before her death. He would be strong, for he had to be strong if he was going to shoulder the burdens that the title of an Assassin necessitated.

As he recalled some of the knowledge that had been unlocked in his mind, Harry could not help but marvel at some of the things he had discovered. Who knew that humans, even wizards, who thought themselves to be the most superior species living on Earth, had in fact been created by a race of ancient and advanced humanoids with special abilities, who were among the first to call Earth their home. _Those Who Came Before_, as his ancestors had informally named them, had in fact created humanity by speeding up the evolution of an already existing species, in order to create a docile workforce for their world.

The First Civilization had created Pieces of Eden, which were technologically advanced artifacts, each possessing unique properties. They had used these Pieces to control humanity and make them more obedient to their creators.

But eventually war broke out between the First Civilization and their oppressed human slaves.

It was instigated by the theft of a Piece of Eden - the Apple of Eden - by Adam and Eve, who were hybrids of the First Civilization and humans, and therefore had developed immunity to the mind controlling effects of the Pieces of Eden.

The humans rebelled against their creators, believing that they should be free from the mastery of their "Gods".

The humans were led by the hybrids due to their immunity to the hypnotic and mind controlling effects of the Pieces of Eden. They used this immunity to get close to some of the members of the First Civilization and kill them. This was seen by the First Civilization as a betrayal of their "Gods" and they were dubbed "Assassins".

For a while, the battlefield was even. Though the humans were in a larger number, the First Civilization had the Pieces of Eden and an additional advanced sixth sense, which gave them much more awareness of their surroundings.

But the war prevented the First Civilization from observing the impending danger of a coronal mass ejection, due to a massive solar flare, which led to an abrupt, but bloody end to the conflict. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and most of the planet was reduced to ashes due to the solar radiation, rendering the surface of the earth barren.

When both the First Civilization and the humans saw the futility of war, they made peace, the humans forgiving their "parents" for their trespasses, and together they created Temples to warn the future generations. But the First Civilization saw that their numbers were dwindling and realized that their time had come to an end, so they created measures to avoid another future catastrophe from occurring. They left messages and saw their time on Earth come to an end. Humans on the other hand, who had been built by the First Civilization to survive, successfully managed to reconstruct their society and flourished.

After this, the leaders of the humans now had in their possession multiple Pieces of Eden, and an idea of how best to lead humanity into the future. They were heavily scarred by the knowledge that their former captors had interfered with their evolutionary destiny, and sought to bring about humanity's "rightful" path by any means necessary. Justified with this belief, they utilized the Pieces of Eden as tools, but were distrustful of any who had made peace with the First Civilization.

Those who represented the "Assassins" had always wanted to free humanity and envisioned a world where all beings could live their lives according to their own will. As such, the Creed "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" became their philosophy, exemplifying the belief that all were free to determine their own existence. They also believed that the misuse of the Pieces of Eden to control others was against all they had worked and suffered for, as they figured that they did not betray their "parents" to liberate humanity, only to see it enslave itself once more.

Therefore, a new war was set in motion; one which would determine the future of humanity, but was fought in the shadows of society. A war between the Templars and the Assassins.

And in that war, two of his ancestors had played very important part.

His ancestor during the High Middle Ages, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad had fought against the Templars, who had publicly become a knightly order under the name "Knights Templar". He had killed nine Templars, on the orders of his Mentor and the leader of the Brotherhood, Rashid ad-Din Sinan, more commonly known as Al Mualim. But in the end, when he had killed the last man, Altaïr was revealed the bitter truth, that his own Master was a hidden Templar, and had ordered the deaths of the other nine Templars so that he could obtain the Ark of the Covenant, which contained an Apple of Eden. Altaïr, now realizing that he had been betrayed by someone he had once considered a dear friend, had raced back to Masyaf, the legendary fortress of the Assassins, to fight Al Mualim. After a long and tiresome battle, he finally managed to defeat the Mentor, and ascended as the new Mentor.

While he did face some challenges during his ascension, he managed to convince the Brotherhood of his suitability to lead the Order. Over the years, he made some significant changes to the way the Order functioned. He noticed that the Templars were becoming more secretive and less public in their dealings, so he did the same with the Order. He also made significant modifications to the weapons used by the Brotherhood. He wished to see the Assassin Order spread throughout the world, and so he constructed Assassin Guilds in cities all over the known world. For a long time, he studied the Apple of Eden, trying to understand the purpose of the powerful artifact. He also wrote a Codex, which contained his personal writings, discoveries made from his study of the Apple, and his innermost thoughts. Later in life, he married Maria Thorpe, a Templar-turned-Assassin ally, who bore him two sons, Darim and Sef.

When the Mongols, lead by the ruthless Genghis Khan, threatened the Holy Land, Altaïr left Masyaf along with Maria and Darim to counter this threat. With the help of Mongolian Assassin Qulan Gal, Genghis Khan was defeated and Altaïr returned to Masyaf. But upon reaching there, he saw that the Order had been taken over by Abbas Sofian, who had killed Sef and blamed Altaïr's old friend Malik Al-Sayf for his death. In a struggle, Maria was killed and Altaïr fled Masyaf with his son Darim to Alamut, where he spent the next 20 years of his life. There he continued to further study the Apple, now becoming somewhat obsessed with it, which drove away his son. During his self-imposed exile, he was directed by the Apple of Eden and discovered six artifacts, which were in fact Memory Seals, in a First Civilization Temple hidden beneath the Alamut fortress. He recorded five of them with significant events and memories of his life while the sixth was kept safe for later use. When news of the worsening state of the Assassin Order reached him, Altaïr returned to Masyaf to reclaim his title of Mentor by defeating Abbas. After his victory, Altaïr began to construct a library beneath Masyaf fortress, where he would store his books containing knowledge from the Apple. The five Memory Seals were used as keys to the library.

When Masyaf came under siege from Mongol forces, Altaïr handed over his Codex and the keys to his library to Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, two Venetian explorers who he had become friends with. After he ordered the evacuation of the fortress and the nearby village, he said his final farewell to Darim and locked himself into his library. After placing the Apple of Eden on a pedestal and sealing it, Altaïr imprinted the last Memory Seal with his final memories before he peacefully passed away at the age of 92.

His ancestor during the Renaissance was a Florentine nobleman, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Ezio had been unaware of his heritage as an Assassin until he witnessed the deaths of his father and two brothers at the age of 17. After he assassinated the ones responsible for their deaths, the Florentine fled his birthplace with his mother and sister to take refuge in the Tuscan town of Monteriggioni, at the Villa Auditore.

After learning of his heritage from his uncle, Mario Auditore, Ezio began his Assassin training and set about on his quest for vengeance against the Templar Order, and their Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia, who had ordered the execution of his kin. During his travels, Ezio managed to not only unite the pages of the Codex, written by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, but also to save the cities of Florence, Venice, and Rome from Templar rule. He helped spread the Renaissance and Assassin ideals of independence and free thought throughout Italy.

In his journeys, Ezio befriended Leonardo da Vinci, the famous inventor, anatomist, sculptor, cartographer, painter, botanist, engineer, architect and mathematician. Leonardo played an important role in the struggle between the Assassins and the Templars. He was the one who decrypted the Codex of Altaïr, repaired the Hidden Blades and then further modified and modernized them. In turn, he convinced Ezio to test his inventions, which included the flying machine. The friendship between the artist and the Assassin was lifelong, literally, as Ezio was present with Leonardo at the moment he died.

Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher and writer, and a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. He was a cynical individual and the relation between him and Ezio could be described as tentative, because Machiavelli couldn't bring himself to trust anyone as he was a secretive person. But Ezio managed to work with the Italian Assassin as they shared a common goal, defeating the Templars.

Ezio was responsible for putting an end to the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence. The Venetian Conspiracy orchestrated by Barbarigos was also thwarted by the Florentine Assassin. The young Assassin then faced Rodrigo Borgia in Venice in a fight for the possession for an Apple of Eden, which the Templars had retrieved from Cyprus. He participated in the Battle of Forlì and personally rescued Caterina Sforza's children. There, due to Templar treachery, he lost his Piece of Eden, which was stolen by a monk with nine fingers, Girolamo Savonarola. The friar used the Apple to instigate the Bonfire of Vanities in Florence, where books and artwork were set on fire. Ezio obtained the Apple from Savonarola, but when the monk was captured by the citizens of Florence and sentenced to be executed by being burned at the stake, Ezio had mercy on the monk and put him out of his misery with his blade. When he fought against Rodrigo Borgia in the Sistine Chapel and defeated him, Ezio used the Papal Staff, which was also a Piece of Eden, along with the Apple to open a Vault, which was a Temple left by the First Civilization to warn the future generations about a great catastrophe which would befall Earth.

When the Apple was stolen from him by Cesare Borgia during the siege of Monteriggioni, Ezio travelled to Rome to reclaim it. There he liberated the city from the Borgia's oppressive rule and revived the Brotherhood to help him in his fight for justice. He also aided Nicolaus Copernicus and protected him from the Borgia, who wanted him dead for speaking out against the religious philosophy with his radical theory that the sun was the midpoint of the universe, contrary to the common belief that the Earth was the centre. The Master Assassin infiltrated Castel Sant'Angelo to rescue Caterina Sforza who was being held captive by the Templars. After that, he began expanding the Brotherhood by recruiting distressed Roman citizens who wanted to fight and take a stand against the oppressive rule of the Borgia. The Assassin also defeated the French allies of the Borgia who were stationed in Rome. Ezio was promoted to the position of 'Mentor' by Niccolò Machiavelli after the older man realized that the young Florentine Assassin was a better leader and exactly what the Order needed at the time. After ascending to the position of the Assassin Mentor, Ezio infiltrated Castel Sant'Angelo and witnessed Cesare Borgia poisoning his own father Rodrigo. He then hurried to reclaim the Apple which Rodrigo had hidden away and the Assassin leader escaped the Papal forces with the Apple. Over the next few months, Ezio and the Brotherhood used the Apple to great effect to systematically destroy the forces which supported Cesare in Rome.

The Assassins defeated Cesare at the gates of Rome, and the Borgia was arrested on the orders of the new Pope and imprisoned. But Ezio did not trust the prison would be able to hold Cesare for long, so he set out with Machiavelli to locate the Borgia, since the Pope refused to disclose the location of the prison to anyone. But before the Assassins could find Cesare, one of the Borgia's trusted lieutenants Micheletto Corella had already aided his master in his escape. The Auditore Assassin tracked the Borgia Templar to Valencia, but Cesare managed to successfully evade the Assassins again, injuring Machiavelli in the process. So Ezio proceeded alone and finally located Cesare in Viana, where he was leading a siege of the city. After fighting his way towards the Grand Master of the Templars, the Assassin Mentor engaged his opponent in battle. The fight ended when Ezio threw the aggressive Borgia from the walls of the city, leaving Cesare in the hands of fate.

After he finally ended the Templar reign in Rome, Ezio had a vision where the Apple informed him that he had to relinquish the Piece of Eden so that future generations might make use of it, and the Apple also showed him where it should be hidden. The Mentor of the Assassins sealed away the Apple in another Vault Temple beneath the Santa Maria in Aracoeli of Rome. He returned to the Sanctuary beneath the uninhabited Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni to leave a clue to the password that protected the Vault's entrance, visible only to those who possessed the unique ability of Eagle Vision.

During his time in Rome, Ezio also saved Leonardo da Vinci from a cult of fanatic philosophers calling themselves the "Cult of Hermes". These Hermeticists believed that they would "transform mankind" by locating the Temple of Pythagoras. Their leader, Ercole Massimo, ordered the kidnapping of Leonardo, a famous polymath who had studied the writings of Pythagoras. The Hermeticists believed that da Vinci knew the location of the hidden entrance to the Temple. Ezio rescued Leonardo from the clutches of the Cult and defeated the Hermeticist leader and many of his followers who tried to stop him from rescuing his friend by engaging the Assassin in combat. After the rescue, the inventor convinced Ezio to destroy the number which the Hermeticists were seeking, as it had to be destroyed, lest any other went searching for it. Ezio reluctantly agreed and the two navigated the chambers by solving puzzles. Upon finally entering a vault, the Assassin immediately recognized the architecture as matching that of the Vatican and Colosseum Vault. When a pedestal activated and started showing some numbers, Ezio distracted Leonardo and led him from the vault and out of the Temple to safely.

In the years that followed, Ezio developed more standard methods of training Assassin recruits. After finding a letter by his father to his uncle, he discovered the rumours of existence of a hidden library beneath the abandoned Assassin fortress of Masyaf, and so he began a quest to rediscover the lost history of the Order. Travelling to the aged fortress of Masyaf in order to learn more about the Assassins before him, he discovered it overrun with Templars. After acquiring the journal of Niccolò Polo from the Templar Captain leading the expedition, he made his way to the city of Constantinople to uncover the location of the Masyaf Keys which, as he discovered, would unlock the fortress's fabled hidden library when brought together.

In Constantinople, he discovered that the Byzantine Templars were planning to overthrow the Ottoman Sultan and reclaim their power. So Ezio, with the help of the Ottoman Assassins and their boisterous leader Yusuf Tazim, gathered information about the new Templar threat while also helping the Ottoman Assassins in protecting the city from both the Byzantines and the Ottoman soldiers. He also searched for the Masyaf keys and discovered four of them all over Constantinople. After he collected the keys, all of which contained important memories of the life of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the famous Syrian Master Assassin, he travelled to Cappadocia to obtain the final key. After he killed the Templar possessing the final key, Ezio was ambushed by the Templar leader, who was none other than the Ottoman Prince Ahmet, who wished to open the hidden library and discover the location of the Grand Temple, which he believed would grant him immeasurable power. He blackmailed Ezio by holding his love interest Sofia Sartor hostage, and demanded all the Masyaf Keys. The Master Assassin saved Sofia and reclaimed the keys from Ahmet after a brief battle. After the fight, he travelled to Masyaf with Sofia. Upon reaching his destination, he unlocked the library and found it to be empty, except for the remains of the former Mentor, Altaïr, resting in a chair with a Memory Seal in his possession. The seal revealed Altaïr's final conversation with his son Darim to Ezio as well as the hidden location of his Apple. Ezio moved towards the Apple, but refused to take it, believing that he had seen enough for one life. With that, he discarded his weapons and left the Vault.

Ezio and Sofia travelled back to Constantinople, where they sold Sofia's bookshop to the Assassins and also appointed a new leader for the Ottoman Guild after the death of the previous leader Yusuf. After that, they travelled back to Italy and settled in a villa in the Tuscan countryside. Ezio and Sofia married in Venice and later had two children, a daughter, Flavia, and a son, Marcello. Ezio passed away at the age of 65, finally at peace with the world and with himself.

Sitting there alone on the cold stone floor of the Astronomy Tower, Harry gazed at the stars illuminating the night sky as he reminisced his ancestors' lives in brief. He wondered why he recalled the memories of these two specific ancestors. As he processed the memories, he slowly realized that Altaïr and Ezio both had quite a few things in common with him. They had endured hardships throughout their lives, they had loved and lost. Yet they had persevered and relentlessly pursued their goals.

Altaïr, although remaining often calm and controlled, sometimes allowed his anger to get the better of him. A cold and objective person, he fully devoted himself to the cause he chose to pursue. Altaïr had a rebellious nature; he was impetuous, demanding, arrogant, self-centered, and impatient. However, after the failure at Solomon's Temple and being sent after the nine, Altaïr began listening to the final words of his victims, and their justifications for their deeds. As his journey continued and his mission progressed, his attitude changed, and he began to perceive the lines and actions of the world, as well as draw upon the teachings of the Creed. At the end, all of his brash and rebellious nature was brought under control, and he became a calm, focused, driven and wise man. Smart and dedicated, his studies and determination to ensure "peace in all things" ensured that the Order survived to fight for as long as was necessary. He understood that the new world would have no place for the current ways of the Assassins and thus changed its practices accordingly. A natural leader, Altaïr was one of the most respected and feared of the Order.

Ezio, on the other hand, was a seducer of women and a playful man. Initially, he allowed his emotions to get the best of him. However, he did manage to gain control of his anger and, by the time he had become a Master Assassin, could control it almost completely. That said, he was still prone to losing control of his emotions at the right trigger. By the time Ezio confronted Rodrigo Borgia, he had become more dedicated to his role as an Assassin, ceasing to use revenge as a motivation. He became more focused on instilling a sense of fraternity among his apprentices, and a love of the cultures they would defend from the Templars. He spared the lives of any targets that he concluded had no need to die. Ezio was also passionately loyal to his family.

Harry realized that he had quite a few common traits as his ancestors. Although he was not as intelligent as someone like Hermione, he considered himself to be above average. He knew that he would do almost anything to protect his friends. (As for the Dursleys, they weren't really a family to him.) And if he was completely honest with himself, he knew that he was impetuous and prone to losing control of his temper, though it hadn't happened publicly, yet.

But he was nothing if not determined, and with that thought in mind, Harry nimbly got to his feet. As he moved towards the door leading out of the tower, he abruptly halted as he thought about what he had to do. Here he was, once again starting to blindly charge into a new situation. First of all, he needed to make some plans for the future. After all he had seen in his ancestors memories, he had learned his lesson as to what happened to fools who blindly charged into unknown situations. While there was indeed a minor chance of success, common sense and history had taught him that there was a major chance that those fools would end up meeting the business end of a sword, spear, arrow or a lead bullet, depending on the situation.

Since he had no knowledge if the Assassin Brotherhood had prevailed and still existed, Harry knew that he had to depend upon himself and his ancestors' memories in order to train himself.

As for the Templars, even though he dearly wished that they had perished over the centuries, he knew that it was just a fool's hope. His ancestors had once compared the Templars to cockroaches; no matter how much one tried to exterminate them, they always somehow survived and came back to cause trouble for others.

But first of all, he had to deal with the situation at hand before he started planning anything else. Harry had realized it as soon as Hermione had used her Time-Turner that the person who had cast the Patronus which had saved them from the Dementors by the lake was himself from the future, so he still had to save Sirius and his own past self from the Dementors. As the young wizard glanced at his watch, visible in the light of the torches illuminating the tower, he noted that almost an hour and a half had already passed and it was almost time for the moon rise.

Moving towards the door, Harry wondered if Hermione for once followed his orders to free Buckbeak and behind the Greenhouses. Though the studious girl was very stubborn, he sincerely hoped for her sake that she listened to him for once. Quickly locking the door behind him with a deft flick of his wand and a whispered incantation, Harry moved down the dimly lit corridor towards the entrance hall, all his senses elevated due to the situation. Absentmindedly, he wished he still had his invisibility cloak with him so that he could swiftly move through the castle without the risk of being caught by any of the Professors or Prefects on patrol duty. As it was, he was carefully checking at each corner to confirm that the next corridor was empty.

Silently proceeding down the staircases, which had at last stopped moving randomly now that it was curfew, Harry gradually immersed himself into the instincts of his Assassin ancestors. He moved silently through the corridor, careful not to make any sound that might give him away. As he approached the main doors of the castle, Harry heard a set of heavy footsteps steadily moving towards him. As he concentrated on the sound, he automatically walked towards a shadowed alcove near the doors. From the heavy sound of the footsteps and the length of the person's stride, he mentally evaluated the person and concluded that it was most probably a male, about 6 foot, 180 pounds, and based on the swishing sound of a cloak, the person was most likely to be the Potions Professor, Severus Snape.

Hidden by the shadows in the alcove, Harry simply observed the Slytherin Head of House as he strode through the entrance hall towards the main doors. Without breaking his stride, Snape swished his wand in a sweeping motion at the door. A sudden cacophony of clicking and clunking erupted as the main doors unlocked themselves, the security spells and protections woven into the doors to protect the school from intruders slowly unraveling. Snape quickly exited the castle without even bothering to lock the doors again behind him.

Since it was to his advantage in this case though, Harry decided there was no point in being bothered about it. Quickly heading out of his hiding spot, Harry followed Snape at a safe distance, not that it mattered all that much, because it seemed that the Potions Master had tunnel vision as he almost sprinted towards the Whomping Willow and towards the secret entrance which lead to the Shrieking Shack. Harry recalled Snape's rant from the past, where he claimed to have seen the Marauder's Map and spotted Lupin's name heading towards the Shack. So Harry was quite sure that even if he was walking right next to the overgrown bat at the moment, the wizard wouldn't notice him.

But deciding it was better to not try and tempt fate, Harry just followed the beaten path, keeping Snape in his vision but at a distance where he could quickly hide in case the Potions Professor decided to turn around. The older wizard only stopped his march towards the Willow once, where he stooped and picked something lying on the ground. Harry assumed that it was his invisibility cloak that Snape was collecting, and though he dearly wished he could snatch it away from those greasy paws, the young Potter knew that he couldn't do that, as it would alter the sequence of events as they were supposed to happen.

His eyes glowed briefly and a low growl issued from his throat as he saw the Professor running his hands over the silky fabric of the invisibility cloak, but Harry calmed himself and continued to follow the other wizard.

Pursuing Snape from a distance turned out to be a good thing, because once he froze the Whomping Willow to stop the aggressive tree from smashing him to a pulp, he scanned the surrounding grounds briefly. Harry acted quickly and as soon as he saw Snape stop and raise his wand, he immediately dropped down onto the grass. The Slytherin wizard's eyes roved over Harry's position but did not spot the Gryffindor hiding in plain sight.

His examination over, Snape turned his attention back towards the Willow, or more specifically the tunnel entrance to the haunted house beneath the now-immobile tree. Before entering the dark tunnel, the Potions Master lit the tip of his wand, covered himself with the invisibility cloak and disappeared from view, directly into the hidden entrance.

As soon as Snape disappeared under the invisibility cloak, Harry got to his feet and moved as fast as he could towards the Forbidden Forest. He knew that the moon was soon about to rise and after a brief struggle between Lupin and Sirius, the werewolf would take off into the deeper parts of the Forbidden Forest. Sirius would also head into the forest to chase after Pettigrew, and he would head for the lake.

With a destination clear in his mind, Harry hastened down the path which would lead him to the forest and the lake where the Dementors would be attacking his past self and his godfather. Harry didn't know how he knew if he was heading down the correct way, but his instincts told him that this was indeed the correct route to the lake, so he decided to trust his instincts and continued into the forest.

He knew he was in the deeper regions of the forest. The sky was no longer clearly visible as the tree cover had increased and obscured the heavens. The bushes had also started to grow in size and grass was thicker. There were gnarled roots of dead willows and decaying oaks jutting out of the ground, which would have made navigating through the woodlands a difficult task.

Harry gracefully stepped over or around all obstacles almost unconsciously, his wand in hand. As visibility started becoming a problem, he lit the wand tip with a whispered '_Lumos!'_, the lit wand providing enough light so that the wizard could see the path ahead of him clearly.

After a few more minutes of hiking through the forest, the Gryffindor finally saw a glimpse of the lake. The lake was calm, the surface smooth like a mirror, the water glowing a soft white, clear as crystal, pure as a blanket of snow, as it reflected the light of the full moon which had finally risen.

Glancing at the full moon and realizing that by now, Lupin must have transformed and headed into the forest, with Sirius following soon after, Harry hid himself behind a beech tree as he absently flicked his wand to cancel the light spell. The wizard patiently waited for his godfather to show up, mentally gearing himself up in order to cast the Patronus Charm when the Dementors started attacking his godfather, past-Hermione and past-Harry.

As the waited for Sirius to show up, he pondered upon the offer his godfather had made him earlier that evening. Although the offer was quite tempting, Harry knew that it would not be possible for him to leave the Dursleys and go live with his godfather. First, because even though his relatives would love to be rid of him for the summer, the young wizard was quite sure there was a reason why he had to spend his summer at Number Four Privet Drive. Although he wasn't sure why he had to live with the Dursleys in the first place, he knew that someone was responsible for him living there, someone who had influence. (And that influential someone clearly did not have his best interests in mind if the person was willing to send him to live with such horrible people.) Second, his only chance of freedom from the Dursleys, Sirius, was a wanted felon at the moment, so he clearly couldn't provide a place for him to live. In the eventuality that the Azkaban escapee was ever acquitted of his false charges, there might be a chance that Harry could live with him, given that the influential bastard who placed him with his relatives did not interfere in this case. So all in all, Harry was certain that his place of residence for the summers would remain unchanged in the near future.

Before his mind wandered off again, Harry noticed that the air around him had grown considerably colder. Recognising the distinct effects of the Dementors' aura, the young Gryffindor prepared himself to fight his worst fear and save his godfather and best friend.

Unconsciously, the grip on his wand tightened and unbidden, the words spilled forth, '_Nulla è vero... tutto è permesso...'_

* * *

**Translations:**

___Nulla è vero... tutto è__ permesso.._. (Italian) - Nothing is true... everything is permitted...

* * *

I was able to get this chapter published today. Finally. It has been a hectic few months, but don't worry, I won't go into details and bore you all. I will, however, say that now I have much more free time so I will be able to write new chapters for the story.

I do hope that all the readers enjoy reading the story as much as I like imagining, planning and writing it. Thanks for all the reviews. A review, to me, means that the reader has enjoyed the story enough to spare some time to tell the author how much they like the story, what they dislike about the story, what changes and corrections can be possibly made to improve the story quality, and of course, to encourage the author to write more. (Well, at least that's what I do.)

I know the first half of the chapter might seem like a history lesson, but it was important that Harry (and you guys as well) knew how the war began and why it started. You may have noticed that I skimmed over quite a few events in Altaïr's and Ezio's lives, but if I tried to cover everything, this chapter would have been twice as long and ten times more boring. But I covered the events which will have some significance in this story.

For AC fanatics, note that I said Harry uses Eagle Vision, not Eagle Sense (which Ezio possessed). Eagle Sense is obtained after mastering the Eagle Vision, but Harry has just activated the ability and he has a long way to go before he masters it completely.


	4. Chapter 3

**Eryr**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

**Forbidden Forest**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry**

**June 6, 1994**

As adrenaline started pumping through his blood, his body and mind preparing for a battle against his worst fear, Harry activated his Eagle Vision to improve his visibility in the dark forest. Channeling magic into his eyes, the sixth sense activated and the world around him brightened. The trees glowed a dull grey from the magic flowing through them, and he could see faint wisps of red floating over the trees ahead, indicating that his foes were just above the forest.

His gaze turned towards the lake, green eyes glowing with a slight golden tint. The lake glowed a faint white, indicating that it could be used as a hiding spot. By the shore, he spotted three figures giving off a strong blue aura. These were his godfather, past-Hermione and his own past shelf.

Harry noticed that Hermione had already lost consciousness and Sirius was about to have his soul sucked out by a Dementor. But he knew that it wasn't yet the time to reveal himself. His past-self was still trying to save his godfather's soul, but due to the effects of the Dementors, he was struggling to stay conscious. Dull white light issued from the tip of the wand, forming a blurry shield around him and his godfather. The Dementors, sensing a weakening opponent, decided to press their advantage. More than hundred of the foul creatures swarmed around the boundary of the Patronus cloud shield, trying to breach the construct of positive emotions given form.

From his location on the other side of the lake, Harry could see the Dementors gathering around the gradually weakening shield, which was slowly but steadily losing its power. Under the Eagle Vision, all he could now see was a red haze surrounding his past-self and his two unconscious companions. Realising that it was now the time to act, Harry raised his wand as he tried to recollect a happy memory.

Suddenly, the image of a beautiful woman with jet-black hair, ruby-red lips curved in a small devious smile, and grey eyes glittering in amusement came to mind.

'Maria...' the name was whispered, somehow sounding familiar as it came from his mouth. The image flickered.

Another image floated into the forefront of his thoughts, this time of an equally beautiful woman with crimson hair shining in the light of the setting sun and green eyes alight with mischief.

'Sofia... _mia cara_...' he murmured as sudden emotions welled up in his heart at the thought of the two women who were the life partners of his two ancestors. All the love his ancestors felt when they looked at these ladies was felt by Harry in that moment.

The wand tip started glowing without any incantation, as his magic and emotions powered the spell.

_'Expecto Patronum!'_

Harry directed his wand towards the Dementors, a shape starting to emerge from the end of the wand. First a very large silvery-white hooked beak appeared, followed by a powerful neck and then the rest of the muscular body emerged.

A silvery-white majestic eagle floated before him, flapping its powerful wings to stay afloat. When his eyes shifted towards the red-hued Dementors, the eagle Patronus guardian seemed to understand his desire. The avian flapped its wings to attain some altitude before it turned its gaze to the dark guards of Azkaban. It swooped towards them, glowing brighter with each passing second, moving swiftly and gracefully through the sky. As it approached the Dementors, it let out a piercing cry, as if to both challenge its opponent as well as to warn them of their imminent defeat.

At the noise, the Dementors turned around. Perhaps feeling the incoming spirit guardian, the Dark creatures started gliding away from the eagle Patronus. Harry saw a breach in the red wall of Dementors surrounding his past-self and the others, so he stepped out from behind the trees and strode towards the lake, leaving his hiding spot. He knew he had to do this, because he had actually seen his future self do the same in the past.

As he walked on the pebbled shore, he observed a blue figure collapsing to the ground. Concluding that his past-self had finally lost consciousness, Harry decided that it was time for action. Though he could not understand why the Dementors were not affecting him now, the third-year Gryffindor realised that now was not the time for such thoughts.

Lifting his wand, he directed the large silvery-white eagle to attack the remaining Dementors which had yet to flee. The avian Patronus let out another piercing cry as it obeyed the command of its creator. Swooping down on a Dementor, the large bird of prey attacked the Dark creature, clawing at it with its powerful talons, making tears in the already-ripped black cloak which shrouded the decaying flesh of the Dementor.

When another nearby Dementor attempted to attack the Eagle Patronus, the bird let out another screech and glowed brighter. A wave of light erupted from the spirit guardian, which viciously pushed away all the Dementors surrounding the lake. The Dementors, sentient enough to recognise their defeat, soared away from the lake and the Forbidden Forest in the direction of Hogwarts castle.

Watching the red specters of the Azkaban guards moving away, Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He inactivated the Eagle Vision, because he had never channeled magic into his eyes before and he did not wish to damage his recently restored perfect vision by channeling too much magic into them. Letting his wand arm fall to his side, Harry glanced in the direction where he knew his past-self, past-Hermione and his godfather laid passed out. Remembering that it had been Snape who had discovered their unconscious bodies, the young Potter moved back towards the tree-line, so that he would not cause a paradox by showing himself to the foul-tempered Potions Professor.

The Eagle Patronus, which had still somehow not disappeared, followed its creator. The ethereal spirit guardian glided ahead towards Hogwarts, providing some much-needed illumination in the dark forest, because even though it was a night of the full moon, the thick foliage of the tall trees obscured the moonlight. Harry marched through the Forbidden Forest, treading very carefully, making very little sound, exhibiting the training and skills of his ancestors subconsciously.

After following his Patronus for a while, the Gryffindor noticed that the tree cover was becoming less dense, and patches of moonlight could be seen penetrating the frondescence. Slowly, the turrets and towers of the ancient castle became visible through the gaps between the trees. The windows were visible even at a distance as pinpricks of light, lining the walls of the castle at regular intervals and letting out the dim yellow light of the torches which illuminated the interior of the castle.

The trees surrounding him became sparse and the smooth, even lawns of Hogwarts grounds came into view. The Eagle Patronus was still gliding ahead of him, the presence of the spirit guardian providing Harry with a little comfort and courage in the situation. When he stepped onto the grounds of Hogwarts, the ethereal avian suddenly turned to its creator. Harry extended his left arm as he did for Hedwig when she wanted to land on his arm after a tiring flight. The silvery-white spectral bird settled on the offered arm, though the wizard did not feel any weight as the Patronus did so. The wizard and his creation gazed at one another for a while, each examining the other. As the teenage magic-user lifted his other hand to try and stroke the bird's feathers, the eagle spirit guardian let out one last peal before it dissipated into a white mist.

Harry just watched as the white mist dispersed into nothingness with a sad smile on his face. The eagle had been the symbol of the Assassin brotherhood since ancient times, and to see his Patronus take the form of one made him recall the memories of his ancestors; memories of watching eagles soar in the clear blue skies of Masyaf, the famous but now-abandoned Assassin fortress, a place where the birds of prey nested in the high cliffs of the surrounding mountains.

Then he remembered that he still had a mission to finish, so he steeled himself as he started moving up the cobblestone path which was the trail connecting Hagrid's hut to the castle. Hoping that Hermione had followed his orders to rescue Buckbeak and then hide with the Hippogriff behind the greenhouses, Harry trudged towards Professor Sprout's domain. As he neared the walls of Greenhouse One, the budding Assassin once again channeled some magic into his eyes. The green eyes acquired a golden tint as the young wizard gazed at the castle grounds. He saw multitude of footprints which had trampled the ground, probably during the day, but he was looking for one particular set of prints. Since his current target was Hermione and Buckbeak, he knew that their footprints (or hoof-print in Buckbeak's case) would be gold in colour. And since they were quite recent, they would still be easily visible with his sixth sense. He spotted the gold footprints near Greenhouse Three. Inactivating the special ability once again, the Gryffindor palmed his wand as he cautiously moved towards the back of the greenhouse.

As he approached the back, he heard a faint rustling sound and the crunch of dry leaves being trampled. Slowly, he moved his wand so that only the tip would be visible to anyone behind the wall. Then he channeled more magic into his wand as he prepared to cast an overpowered Lumos spell. But before he could complete his action, he heard a soft female voice call out, 'Harry, is that you?'

Sighing, the wizard abandoned his cover so that his friend could see him. Lighting his wand with a whispered 'Lumos!', Harry looked over the young witch to determine if she had suffered any injuries during her little jaunt to rescue Buckbeak. Though her hair was even bushier than normal, her clothes mud-stained, face bearing multiple scratches and her entire countenance indicating tiredness, he could see that her chocolate-brown eyes were shining with happiness as she stroked Buckbeak's feathery neck, a small smile playing on her lips. The Hippogriff was obviously enjoying her ministrations, as its eyes were closed in contentment.

'Hermione, you've got to be more careful. It could've been someone else too. You shouldn't have called out like that,' said Harry, his voice low and soft, as he did not want to disturb the Hippogriff.

'Buckbeak heard something and got agitated. He knows your scent, and obviously likes you and doesn't consider you a threat, so when he settled down after some time, I knew it could only be you or Hagrid. Since I'm sure I saw Hagrid head towards Hogsmeade with a bottle of firewhisky in his hands, the only possible person who'd come here at this time of the night would be you,' replied Hermione as she continued her stroking of the Hippogriff.

Harry simply shook his head at the girl's logic, but only replied with, 'Next time, for my sake at least, just confirm if your assumptions are true, ok?'

The muggleborn witch nodded at his words, but did not say anything. Harry watched the scene before him for a while before he checked his watch. Noticing that only forty minutes were left until midnight, and only thirty-five minutes before the Headmaster locked them in the Infirmary, the young wizard concluded that at best they had approximately twenty or twenty-five minutes to rescue Sirius from Flitwick's office before they had to make their way to the hospital wing so that they would be safely behind its locked doors by midnight.

'C'mon, Hermione, we have to get going. We don't have much time left to save Sirius and get back to the hospital wing,' said Harry quietly. At this, Hermione started to get up. When Buckbeak noticed a pause in his grooming, he opened his beady eyes, which locked immediately with Harry. The wizard and Hippogriff stared intently at each other before giving each other a short bow at the same time. Buckbeak immediately stood up and nudged Hermione with his head. The witch stumbled, but before she could fall, Harry caught her and steadied her. She tried to dust off the dirt on her clothes, all the while glaring at the Hippogriff for making her stumble, but the creature just gazed back at her with orange eyes. If it was human, it would probably be smirking smugly, but even with a beak and a head covered with feathers, the Hippogriff managed to convey his smugness at his actions.

Harry just shook his head at the playful antics of the Hippogriff, though a small smile made played on his lips. The three companions stepped out of the cover of the greenhouse. Harry noticed a movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned his gaze towards the entrance footpath, which led from the main gates to the oak doors of the entrance hall of Hogwarts. He noticed a black cloaked figure walking down the path. His eyes narrowed in anger, and to confirm his suspicions regarding the identity of the person, Harry activated the Eagle Vision. The world turned a dull grey, but his suspicions were confirmed as the figure walking down the footpath glowed red.

'Macnair...' Harry hissed, allowing the gold tint to bleed out of his emerald eyes.

'What is it, Harry?' inquired Hermione, worried at her friend's actions.

'Seems that Fudge has sent Macnair to get the Dementors,' replied Harry with distaste. 'Looks like now's the time to rescue Sirius.'

He glanced at the young witch and noticed that while she was afraid, she was determined too. The two of them walked to the Hippogriff, and Harry first helped his friend get onto the Hippogriff's back. Then, he clambered onto Buckbeak's back, situating himself just behind the wing joint, just like he had been advised during Hagrid's first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. As soon as he settled, he felt Hermione's arm wrap themselves around his middle. The hold was tight enough that he felt a bit uncomfortable, but the Gryffindor did not complain and instead he held onto the Hippogriff's neck as the magical creature unfurled its wings, flapping the massive feathery appendages to lift off from the ground.

As the distance between them and the ground increased, the grip around his abdomen tightened until it was almost too painful. Harry knew that his best friend had a dislike of heights as well as flying, and flying on the back of a Hippogriff was not the best way to improve on those fears. So, he ignored the painful hold of the young witch seated behind him, concentrating on maintaining their direction by guiding Buckbeak with his legs due to the lack of reins.

As the flight towards their destination continued, Harry could feel the powerful, corded muscles of the Hippogriff moving under him. Under the moonlight, the castle looked beautiful and majestic, while the tall towers and battlements made it look intimidating as well. Identifying the West Tower, which was adjacent to the Great Hall, Harry loosened the grip of his legs around Buckbeak, resulting in the Hippogriff slowing down its speed and going into a sort of idyllic glide. He started counting the number of windows as they passed by, and when they reached the thirteenth window, Harry tugged on the neck feathers of the Hippogriff, which brought the flying creature into a hover.

Gently tapping Hermione's arms still wrapped tightly around his torso, the Gryffindor said in a low voice, 'Hermione, we've reached our destination, but to proceed with our mission, I have to open the window,' he paused before continuing with a sigh, 'which I'm sure has been locked with complex locking spells which neither of us can counter. So I'll have to try something else, and you'll have to stay on Beaky's back.'

At this, Hermione let out a frightened squeak, which despite the circumstances made Harry grin.

'Just keep your eyes closed and hold on to Buckbeak, okay?' whispered Harry, to his companion just replied with a small whimper. When he glanced at her, her eyes were sealed shut. Still grinning, he unclasped her arms from around him and maneuvered himself so that in a flash, he was sitting behind Hermione. The witch immediately grabbed hold of the Hippogriff's neck for safety, eyes still screwed tightly shut.

Harry knew that under any other circumstances, he would not have been so confident performing such a maneuver, but both his ancestors had plenty of experience riding horses, and riding a Hippogriff was not much different, which was why he was able to steer Buckbeak during their short flight. And the Assassins were also capable of performing various acrobatic stunts on a horse, which was where he drew inspiration for what he was going to do next.

The window, although it was locked, wasn't charmed to be unbreakable. It was made of glass set into a wooden frame. Since he could not unlock the windows, and since blowing the window to smithereens or smashing the glass would draw unnecessary attention, the only option left was to make a way in by gouging the stone wall.

Using a Gouging Spell, an emergency entrance could be made without disturbing the surrounding. But to achieve the necessary results, the spell had to be performed with the wand touching the solid surface, so that the magic was efficiently funneled into the stone. The stone walls of Hogwarts, while appearing to be smooth at a distance, had a lot of protruding pieces of stone which could be spotted by a sharp eye. And these could be used as handholds to scale over the castle walls by a trained Assassin.

While he was still a Novice compared to his ancestors, Harry was confident enough that if he made this leap towards the wall, he could support himself for a sufficient time to make an entrance with the Gouging Spell. With that thought in mind, the Novice Assassin carefully balanced himself on Buckbeak's back, and taking a deep breath, jumped towards the wall. His hands almost instinctively sought out the nearest handhold and he rested his legs on the foothold. Taking another deep breath, and mentally cursing his recklessness, Harry extracted his wand from his pocket. Touching it to the cool stone wall, the wizard concentrated on the spell, and with a deft flick, he murmured the incantation, _'Defodio!'_ while channeling as much magic as he dared into the spell.

The effect of the spell could be seen almost immediately. Portions of the stone were completely gouged out by the magic of the cell, and soon enough, a hole large enough for a person to crawl out of was made in the wall. The process was almost noiseless, except when a particularly large piece of stone was gouged out and it fell down on the ground with a dull thud.

The sound alerted the occupant of the office-turned-cell, because a few seconds later, his godfather's head poked out from the freshly carved hole in the castle wall. The look on Sirius's face was comical, and Harry would have laughed, had he not been hanging from the stone wall almost seven storeys above the ground. But he could not stop a wry grin from spreading on his face at the surprised and dumbfounded look on the Azkaban fugitive's face.

Before the older wizard could speak, Harry interrupted the man and said quietly, amusement plain in his voice, 'Sirius, while I'd love to chat, now is not the time for it. If you haven't noticed, I'm hanging from a wall, without any support I might add, and I'd appreciate it if you could get onto the Hippogriff hovering before you.'

Sirius nodded mutely and with his experience as a seasoned Quidditch player, he made an awkward jump onto Buckbeak's back. The Hippogriff let out an indignant squawk at the sudden weight, while Hermione let out a frightened shriek when her mode of transport wobbled due to his godfather's jump. Harry pocketed his wand and prepared to make a backward leap. Mentally preparing himself, the young Assassin planted his legs carefully on the wall, and with a strong push, he propelled himself backwards, twisting his upper body so that he landed on the Hippogriff's back in a perfect seated position behind Hermione.

With the weight of a third passenger added, Buckbeak's altitude immediately plummeted and to remain airborne, the Hippogriff flapped its powerful wings with as much energy as it could. Another shriek came from the only female rider as their ride swayed heavily as it tried to compensate the added weight. But within a few moments, the flying magical creature regained its momentum and bearings.

When they flew by Sirius's temporary prison, Harry swiftly pointed his wand at the damaged wall and muttered, _'Reparo!'_ The hole in the wall repaired itself immediately and within a few moments, the stone wall looked as if it had never even been scratched. His work done, Harry patted the Hippogriff's flank. Buckbeak understood the signal and increased his speed, the massive wings flapping intensely.

Soon enough, the party landed on the roof of the castle and all three humans dismounted, Harry with much more confidence than Hermione and Sirius. The witch simply collapsed onto the ground while breathing harshly and muttering under her breath. Harry caught a few snippets such as '... so stupid...' and '... never again!...' and had to suppress his laughter at his best friend's antics. His godfather, however, balanced himself before he could collapse, leaning against the Hippogriff, legs still wobbling. While his two companions reoriented themselves, he checked his watch to calculate how much time they had left to make it back to the hospital wing before it was locked. Noticing that they had only ten minutes remaining to make it back, Harry walked over to his godfather.

Placing a hand on the elder wizard's shoulder, alerting the man to his presence, Harry spoke to the felon in a low voice, 'Sirius, I'll explain the details later. We don't have much time left. We have to make it back to the hospital wing in ten minutes or they'll notice we're missing.'

Sirius nodded his understanding, so Harry continued, 'I want you to take Buckbeak here with you. He'll help you in your escape. Make sure that you fly high enough that no one will notice you. Also, try to move during nights, rest during the day. I'll try to contact you using my owl. Only accept a letter addressed to you if it's delivered to you by a snowy owl, okay? And don't try to contact anyone else, not even Lupin. We don't know if they're being watched or not.'

The animagus looked at his godson with an unreadable look in his eyes. He continued his silent observation for a few moments before his whispered, 'You really are their son, aren't you?' with a small smile forming on his face, showing his yellow teeth. Even so, the smile seemed to make the gaunt man look much younger.

Harry just replied with his own grin as he nodded. The convict placed his own hand on the younger wizard's shoulder and they gripped each other in an awkward hug, before separating at a small cough. Both turned around to look at the source, only to spot an embarrassed Hermione glancing at her watch. Realising that time was short, the two wizards moved away; the godfather towards the waiting Buckbeak, the godson towards the abashed bookworm.

Sirius mounted the Hippogriff and then nodded to the two Hogwarts students. Then suddenly the Hippogriff and its rider rose from the roof of the castle and disappeared into the sky.

When his godfather and his ride were out of view, Harry immediately grabbed a hold of Hermione's hand and the pair moved as fast as they could towards the hospital wing, which was located on the first floor. Travelling through the empty corridors and cobwebbed secret passages, the two of them finally made it to the first floor corridor. Almost sprinting as they approached Madam Pomfrey's domain, they made it to the doors just as they heard the familiar voice of the Headmaster saying, 'It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck.'

Dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it. Seeing the Headmaster about to lock the doors magically, the two ran forward.

Dumbledore looked up, a smile visible under the long silver moustache. 'Well?' he inquired quietly.

Harry panted, pretending to catch his breath so that he did not have to answer the Headmaster's question. So his accomplice decided to answer the old wizard's query.

'We did it!' said Hermione breathlessly. 'Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak...'

Dumbledore beamed at them.

'Well done. I think...' He listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. 'Yes, I think you've gone too - get inside - I'll lock you in -'

Harry and Hermione slipped back inside the dormitory. It was empty except for Ron, who was still lying motionless in the end bed. As the lock clicked behind them, Harry and Hermione crept back to their own beds, Hermione tucking in her Time-Turner back under her own clothes. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey came striding out of her office.

'Did I hear the Headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to look after my patients now?'

She was in a very bad mood, so Harry and Hermione decided to accept their chocolate quietly. Madam Pomfrey stood over them, making sure they ate it. But Harry could hardly swallow. The events of the day were finally catching up with his, the stress his body had to suffer making itself known now that the adrenaline rush was finally wearing off. Suddenly, he felt very tired and sleepy. He struggled to stay awake, wanting to know if they had noticed that Black had escaped their clutches once more. And he wanted to see the look on Snape's face when the greasy git realised that his Order of Merlin had slipped away with Sirius.

They heard a distant roar of fury echoing from somewhere above them.

'What was that?' said Madam Pomfrey in alarm.

Now they could hear angry voices, growing louder and louder. Madam Pomfrey was staring at the door.

'Really - they'll wake everybody up! What do they think they're doing?'

Harry closed his eyes, removing his glasses from his pocket and placing them bedside table. His wand was next, though he did not place it on the table. It went under his pillow, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

'He must have Disapparated, Severus, we should have left someone in the room with him. When this gets out -'

'HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!' Snape roared, now very close to the hospital wing. 'YOU CAN'T APPARATE _OR_ DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS - HAS - SOMETHING - TO - DO - WITH - POTTER!'

'Severus - be reasonable - Harry has been locked up -'

BAM!

The doors of the hospital wing burst open.

Fudge, Snape and Dumbledore came striding into the ward. Out of the three, only Dumbledore was calm. Fudge appeared angry, but Snape was livid.

'OUT WITH IT, POTTER!' he bellowed. 'WHAT DID YOU DO?'

'Professor Snape!' shrieked Madam Pomfrey. 'Control yourself.'

'Yes, Snape, control yourself,' said Harry, looking up at the Potions Professor from his position on the bed. 'I've been here under Madam Pomfrey's wonderful care ever since Headmaster Dumbledore locked the doors of the hospital wing, magically might I add. So unless you're suggesting that I can be in two places at once, and have some solid proof to back it up, try not to blame every damn thing that goes wrong around here on me.'

Snape was shocked into silence at Harry's sudden diatribe; he looked around to see that Hermione's mouth was open in shock, Madam Pomfrey tried to stifle her gasp with her hands, Fudge was gaping and Dumbledore just smiled, amused by the entire situation.

The was an uncomfortable silence as Harry and Snape stared at each other murderously. Sensing an oncoming confrontation, Dumbledore cleared his throat.

'Well, there you have it, Severus,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Mr. Potter has given us his statement. And if you wish to further confirm his words, I believe we can ask Madam Pomfrey to give her affirmation.'

Snape stood there, seething silently, staring from Fudge, who looked shocked at what he had witnessed, to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward.

'Fellow seems quite unbalanced,' said Fudge, staring after the Potions Professor. 'I'd watch out for him, if I were you, Dumbledore.'

'Oh, he's not unbalanced,' said Dumbledore quickly. 'He's just suffered a severe disappointment.'

'He's not the only one!' puffed Fudge. 'The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers again! All it needs now is for the story of that Hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughing stock! Well... I'd better notify the Ministry...'

'And the Dementors?' said Dumbledore. 'They'll be removed from the school, I trust?'

'Oh, yes, they'll have to go,' said Fudge, playing nervously with his bowler hat. 'Never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent boy... completely out of control... No, I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight.'

'Perhaps we should continue our conversation in my office, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore, when he noticed Madam Pomfrey's glare directed towards the two intruders in her ward. 'You can use my Floo connection to contact the Ministry.'

'Oh, yes, thank you for the offer, Dumbledore,' said Fudge as he walked towards the door.

Dumbledore looked back at the two conscious patients of the hospital wing for a second, before he followed the Minister out of the infirmary.

As soon as the Headmaster and Fudge left, Madam Pomfrey hurried to the door and locked it again. Muttering angrily to herself, she headed back to her office.

Silence engulfed the room, but neither Harry nor Hermione wanted to be the one to break the silence. Finally Hermione, unable to contain her curiosity, decided to speak.

'What happened to you, Harry?' she asked quietly.

Harry opened his eyes and looked at his best friend. Because of his repaired eyesight, he could now see better in the dark as well, so he could make out the slight frown on Hermione's face as she asked the question. He thought about how he should answer this delicate question, before deciding to try and satisfy Hermione with a half-truth.

'When we encountered the Dementors for the first time during the train ride, you know I heard screaming? I later found out it was my mother. When I asked Lupin to teach me the Patronus, he used a Boggart. My Boggart is a Dementor, so whenever I saw one, it trigerred memories of my parents. I heard both my mother and father's voices when Voldemort attacked them. And when they attacked us today, I heard my mother's voice, pleading with Voldemort to spare my life. I heard my father telling my mother to take me and escape,' he lied, making up the last part.

'When I heard their voices, Hermione, I didn't know what to think, what to feel...' he said, his voice quiet. ' And even now, I'm uncertain...'

Again, neither of them spoke, a precarious silence once again falling. And once again, it was Hermione who braved speaking to ask, 'And what about the Patronus conjurer? Did you find out who it was?'

At this, a small smile appeared on Harry's face. 'Yes, I did,' he said.

When he did not expand his statement, Hermione frowned and asked in her bossy voice, 'Well? Aren't you going to tell me who it was?'

Harry just smiled at her as he said, 'You never asked me who it was, Hermione. You asked me if I found out who it was, to which I answered that I did.'

The bushy-haired witch huffed at her friend's answer and then asked imperiously, 'Well, who was it?'

'Me,' was the simple reply.

Hermione was shocked by the candid reply, but before she could pester Harry with even more questions, both heard a low moan from the other end of the ward.

Ron Weasley had finally woken up. They could see him sitting up, rubbing his leg, looking around.

'Wha... What happened?' the red-head groaned. 'Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?'

Harry and Hermione looked at each other at the query.

'You explain,' said Harry, closing his eyes and lying down, as the stress of the day finally caught up with him, the emerald-eyed wizard falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Translations:**

Mia cara - My dear

* * *

It's been a while. This chapter has been the cause of a lot of head aches for me, but I finally finished it.

To all the readers, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the latest chapter.


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